


Girls' Night In

by DesertVixen



Category: Baby-Sitters Club - Ann M. Martin
Genre: Claudia cleaned her room, F/M, Friendship, Gen, New Year's Resolutions, Wedding Planning, hint of Sam/Stacey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-13
Updated: 2014-10-13
Packaged: 2018-02-20 23:48:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2447543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesertVixen/pseuds/DesertVixen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Even Mary Anne Spier needs a bachelorette party...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Girls' Night In

**Author's Note:**

  * For [OzQueen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OzQueen/gifts).



Taking the train down to Stoneybrook was fairly common for Stacey McGill. She still loved New York City, of course, but she loved the quiet little Connecticut town as well, and not just because it was home to her mother and her best friend. Lately, she had ended up making the trip pretty much every weekend for one reason or another. This week, Stacey had arranged to take Friday off and go down early.

She had a party to help throw.

There had been no question of throwing a “typical” bachelorette party for the first of their group to get married. If it had been her or Claudia, or even Kristy, then Stacey would have had no problem with a wild night on the town, but not for Mary Anne Spier.

Instead, Claudia and Kristy had come up with a better idea. Stacey couldn’t help noticing that Kristy had scheduled the party for a time when it would just be the four of them. Dawn was coming out for the wedding, but had declined being a bridesmaid. 

The whole Dawn situation was just going to be awkward for everyone concerned, Stacey thought. It generally was, but she knew everyone would be on their best behavior for the wedding.

*** *** *** 

Tonight, though, they were going to have fun. Stacey had been a little skeptical of the idea, but Claudia had sold her on it while they were shopping for supplies. Kristy’s idea had been for them to hold a private scrapbooking party, since they all knew how much Mary Anne enjoyed scrapbooking. Claudia had created a few “scrapbook challenges” instead of silly party games, and they would have enough snacks for a small army. Despite having the run of the house since Claudia’s parents were out of town for the weekend, they had decided to set up for the party in her room. It was bigger than it had been in middle school, as Claudia’s parents had remodeled during high school, so there was plenty of room for all four of them. However, Claudia being Claudia, the clean room had lasted all of two weeks before the clutter took over the room.

“You actually cleaned it!” Stacey held a hand to her heart in pretended shock. She eyed the closed closet door warily, half-expecting it to spontaneously open and release a flood of things that Claudia had stuffed in there. Instead of the usual clutter, the floor was now occupied with decorative paperboard trays filled with stacks of paper, stickers, and all sorts of art supplies and embellishments.

“How much did you spend?” Stacey asked, a little awed.

Claudia laughed. “Not too much. They gave me a discount at the scrapbook store when I explained what it was for, and the paperboard trays go in the organizer I bought for her wedding gift.” She had also gotten a free-lance job offer out of the deal, which could be interesting.

Claudia had made the actual scrapbook for Mary Anne herself – an expandable one made of an ivory material flecked with navy blue – and written Mary Anne’s name in a graceful arc of bold calligraphy over a blank opening for a five-by-seven photograph. It was clean and classic and very Mary Anne, Stacey thought, as Claudia showed off her work. The only other decoration on the front was a series of kanji in dark rose that Claudia had said translated into a wedding blessing from grandmother to granddaughter – a tiny reminder of Mimi. The inside covers were done in a wash of blue that faded from midnight blue to palest sky. Inside the front cover, the three of them had written personal messages in silver ink.

Claudia had made smaller scrapbooks for the three of them as well, covered in navy blue and decorated with their first initial in sequins – bright red for Kristy, hot pink for Stacey, and bright lavender for Claudia. She had also collected a huge stack of pictures from what seemed like every client the Baby-Sitters’ Club had ever had, with multiple copies. 

The club had not lasted past middle school. Sometimes Stacey wondered that it had lasted as long as it had, at how seriously they had all taken it. That had been Kristy’s talent – not only coming up with an idea but selling it and executing it so well that people wanted to see more. During the summer after their eighth-grade graduation, it had become clear that the opportunities and stresses high school was going to bring them were going to be a bigger problem than they could handle. So, Kristy had decided to close the club down before they had problems and tarnished their good reputation. 

They had stayed close, dividing into their natural pairs but still coming together for dances, to stress over homework, watching Kristy and the SHS softball team to a pair of state championships, cheering Claudia’s first major art exhibition, and taking part in the fashion show Stacey planned their junior year. There had even been the occasional joint babysitting project.  


Even through college, when they had scattered in all directions, they had held on to that closeness. Now, almost four years later, they were together for another milestone.

*** *** *** 

Kristy had been given the job of getting the bride to the party with a story about a last-minute idea from Claudia about favors. It wasn’t a total lie, as Claudia had made a few sample cards to go with the small bags of candy that Mary Anne planned to use. 

Since it was Friday, they had decided to kick the party off at five-thirty. Stacey rather enjoyed watching Mary Anne’s jaw drop as she walked through the door and saw the setup.  


Kristy had even dug up a visor, emblazoned with “Maid of Honor” in dark blue sequins, and she put it on as she walked over to the director’s chair. “I call this bachelorette party to order.”

And Mary Anne burst into tears.

*** *** ***  


It was a night of “do-you-remember” and “can-you-believe”, with photos being passed around and memories being exchanged as the four of them worked on scrapbooks. In addition to the pictures Claudia had, Stacey and Kristy had brought copies from their own collection. Kristy had even written Mary Anne’s maternal grandparents for a few, including a wonderful shot of Alma Spier in her wedding gown, wearing the same handmade lace veil that Mary Anne would wear. 

Claudia held up their pre-senior prom picture, showing the four of them standing on the staircase in the Brewers’ house. It was a classic picture of the four of them – dramatic Claudia in a bright blue satin number that only she could have pulled off, complete with outrageous blue feathered earrings and barrettes she had made herself, elegant Stacey in strapless black, classic Mary Anne in a vintage 1950s gown she had rescued from a thrift shop and dyed blush pink and a string of pearls, and no-fuss Kristy in a short dark blue dress and flats, her dark hair in the simplest style they could talk the stylist into. They’d taken that picture before their dates and the limo had arrived, after an afternoon of primping and salon appointments. There were other pictures of the night that Claudia had brought out, but Stacey thought this one was the best. It showed them the way she wanted to remember them – close friends on one of the biggest nights of their high school lives.

Eventually talk turned to the wedding the next weekend.

“It’s going to be so wonderful,” Mary Anne sighed as she leaned back on one of the big pillows in her spot, propped up against the bed. “I went by today and it all looks so wonderful.”  
The wedding and reception were being held at a historic Victorian outside Stoneybrook with an incredible walled garden. The riot of flowers in the garden would be the perfect backdrop for Mary Anne’s romantic daydream, and the house had a lovely open ballroom that could double as ceremony site in case of inclement weather.

They had all played a part, besides being in the bridal party. Stacey had kept her eyes open for just the right dress. Claudia had designed an invitation that was unique and classic. Kristy had gone along with Mary Anne on every vendor visit to ensure Mary Anne didn’t get swept away on a wave of emotion. Stacey was sure Kristy would be marshalling events right up to the time that she stepped out to walk down the aisle as the maid of honor.

“Looking forward to seeing Sam?” Claudia teased Stacey. “He’s going to love you in that bridesmaid dress.”

Stacey threw the nearest pillow at her best friend. “Looking forward to seeing David Michael?”

Charlie had chosen a friend from college as his best man, leaving his younger brothers Sam and David Michael on even ground as groomsmen, despite the eight year difference in their ages. 

“Have you seen the best man yet?” Stacey asked Kristy.

“Once or twice,” Kristy answered. “If nothing else, he plays baseball so we’ll have something to chat about.”

“I’m sure it will be a better party than that,” Mary Anne teased. “And at the end of it, we’ll really be sisters,” she finished, standing to give Kristy a hug where she sat on the bed. “It’s crazy, that after all those years of living next door to each other, and all the changes, I’m getting married to your older brother.”

“It is crazy,” Kristy agreed. “Guess it’s a good thing our mom and your dad never hooked up,” she said lightly, but Stacey saw the quick glint of tears in her eyes. 

The doorbell rang. “Pizza’s here!” Kristy said brightly, and hurried downstairs. When she came back up with the two boxes and paper plates, any trace of tears was gone and Kristy was her usual brisk self. “Do you know who our pizza delivery boy was? Jamie Newton.”

The other three burst out into laughter, with Claudia being the first to recover. “How is he old enough to drive already?”

Stacey grinned as she took the paper plate Kristy passed her with two slices of cheese pizza. 

This was why she kept coming back to Stoneybrook. This was where her family was.

**Author's Note:**

> OzQueen, I hope you like the story! I think it's got a little of all the things you asked for, and there's some potential for more, I think.
> 
> I wasn't sure where you stand on Dawn, so I didn't get too much into my headcanon about her role in their future.


End file.
